A's manager Bob Melvin greets his players during introductions before Game 1 of the ALDS against the Tigers in Detroit.

A's manager Bob Melvin greets his players during introductions before Game 1 of the ALDS against the Tigers in Detroit.

Photo: Gregory Shamus, Getty Images

Bob Melvin's confidence has deep roots

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As he fidgeted in the dugout in Monday night's ninth inning, watching his team clinch a wildly improbable playoff berth, A's manager Bob Melvin found his mind wandering to other events he'd witnessed at the Oakland Coliseum - the Who concert in 1976 and World Series games in the '70s.

Melvin caught himself in time to savor Grant Balfour's triumphant strikeout and the jubilant celebration to follow. But there was significance in the momentary jolt of nostalgia: The man who guided the 2012 A's on their joyride has deep Bay Area roots.

That's why this year's success carries deep meaning for Melvin, the leading candidate for American League Manager of the Year. He grew up in Menlo Park, attended many A's and Giants games as a kid, and played at Cal for one season before turning pro.

"I felt it the first day here - a little different spotlight at home, a little more pride because it's here," Melvin said in an interview last week. "The first time I put on the uniform, I had to go in the bathroom and look in the mirror. It was pretty cool."

A photo of that Who concert hangs on the wall in Melvin's office. He wasn't quite 15 then, a strapping and athletic teenager already deeply immersed in sports (and clearly with an appreciation for rock 'n' roll).

Links to Lombardi

Melvin, 50, excelled in baseball, basketball, football and golf in his youth. He also had a notable connection to coaching in one Vince Lombardi, near-mythic leader of the Green Bay Packers.

Melvin's grandfather, R.B. "Bud" Levitas, was the original ballboy for the Acme Packers (precursor to the Green Bay Packers) in the 1920s and lived in Wisconsin much of his life. Levitas became good friends with Lombardi, to the point he was a pallbearer at Lombardi's funeral in 1970.

Lombardi died just before Melvin turned 9, but they crossed paths several times. Melvin remembers going into his grandparents' backyard in Atherton and throwing a football with Lombardi. In 1969, when Lombardi coached the Washington Redskins, young Bob went to some practices, sat on the sideline and listened intently as Lombardi explained what was happening.

Melvin was too young to fully understand the impact of the Lombardi name, but he sensed the man had uncommon influence.

"I'm not sure if I knew what the word 'respect' meant back then, but I knew I respected him," Melvin said. "He just had that air about him. ... You put things together as a kid and figure out who's a little more important than others."

It would be misleading to suggest these interactions with Lombardi steered Melvin toward a future in coaching/managing. Those ambitions sprouted during his 10-year career as a major-league catcher.

Even so, Melvin's grandfather, who owned a successful wholesale liquor company in Brisbane, often took him to games and introduced him to prominent athletes. Levitas also was good friends with former Giants pitcher Mike McCormick, the 1967 Cy Young Award winner.

"I was around a lot of people in professional sports who I could look up to," Melvin said, "and kind of aspire to going in that direction."

As a kid, Melvin spent hours upon hours playing sports. Matt Morey, a lifelong friend who grew up down the street in Menlo Park, recalled them smacking Wiffle balls in the driveway, kicking footballs in the street and swatting plastic golf balls over the house.

It was quickly apparent that Melvin's athletic ability - long before he starred at Menlo-Atherton High and became the first student inducted into the school's Hall of Fame - placed him in another realm.

"I wish I could say I maybe beat him once, in anything," Morey said.

Uncommonly competitive

Jim Morris, another childhood friend, remembered Melvin as strikingly big for his age (he was listed at 6 feet 4 and 205 pounds in his major-league playing days). It might be hyperbole all these years later, but Morris insisted that Melvin, at 7 or 8, was a better baseball player than many 12-year-old Little Leaguers in the neighborhood.

Beyond his natural talent, Melvin also was uncommonly competitive. Losing affected him personally, as Morey put it - even now, Melvin occasionally scraps dinner plans with Morey if the A's lose. If they win, he's ready to roll.

"If he didn't win, he was a little bit of a baby about it," Morey said of their younger days.

Melvin didn't exactly dispute the characterization.

"I think some of my friends growing up can't figure out how I don't get kicked out of every game we lose," he said. "They would probably tell you I was over the top at times."

This offers a striking contrast to the calm, understated personality Melvin has displayed in managerial stops in Seattle, Arizona and now Oakland. His even-handed style and blend of confidence and humility helped guide the A's - full of young, mostly obscure players - from baseball's netherworld to their first playoff appearance in six years.

Melvin's people skills are a big part of the equation, and they can be traced to his childhood. He was comfortable interacting with adults at a young age, which left an impression on Morris.

"I think Bob could have been voted mayor of Menlo Park when he was 10," Morris said. "He knew everybody. He talked to older people and knew their names - he actually used their names, which was very unusual for a kid."

Melvin's dad, Paul, died a couple of years ago, but his mom, Judy, still lives in Menlo Park (in the same house where Bob grew up). She closely followed this magical A's season, watching nearly all their games on television.

Judy Melvin's son has come a long way since 1980, when he was 18 and beginning his baseball journey. Cal reached the College World Series in his freshman season and he helped his American Legion team, coached by former Stanford pitching coach Tom Dunton, advance to another World Series in Minnesota.

Fascinated with game

Melvin spent only one year in Berkeley before bolting to chase his dream of playing professional baseball. He didn't play every day for Cal - the Bears had a senior, Tom Colburn, at catcher - but he seldom missed a chance to pepper then-Cal coach Bob Milano with questions.

"He'd always ask, 'Why are you doing it that way?' " Milano said. "He was interested in the game and always wanted to know why."

Melvin became a journeyman catcher in the majors, bouncing among seven teams - including the Giants for three seasons (1986-88) - and hitting .233 for his career. His vagabond path allowed him to pick up tidbits from managers such as Roger Craig, Frank Robinson, Johnny Oates and Phil Garner.

The wisdom obviously served him well. Melvin won National League manager-of-the-year honors with Arizona in 2007, and now he's likely to add the AL award. That counts as a remarkable achievement, given the A's meager payroll and offseason trades relinquishing several established players.

He long ago left the Bay Area to pursue his baseball career; now he and his wife, Kelley, live in Manhattan in the off-season (which makes his fondness for mountain biking a bit challenging). They met in 1982, when he played for a minor-league team in Birmingham, Ala., and she was an usher for the team in Memphis. They instantly clicked, got married six months later and this year celebrate their 30th anniversary.

The Melvins moved east from Arizona about six years ago to be near their daughter Alexi, a 23-year-old aspiring actress who attended acting school in New York. Alexi was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at age 15, and Bob and Kelley Melvin have become advocates for fundraising and research of the disease.

Even with these East Coast ties, Melvin doesn't hide his emotional attachment to the Bay Area. That was evident last week, on the same field where he once watched Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey - and now basked in the glow of Oakland's unlikely trip to the playoffs.

Sometimes, history comes full circle.

In sports

Verlander proves too tough as the A's fall to Detroit 3-1 in their first ALDS game. B1

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